“While we look inward and celebrate this salvation we have received, let us likewise make Easter a time of renewal as one people, as well as a time of rebuilding hope for ourselves and for the bright future we aspire for the Philippines,” Belmonte said in his Easter message.
“Whatever difficulties we face today are like seeds, which eventually grow into strength and evolve into the success of our pursuits,” Belmonte added.
Belmonte also reminded Filipinos worldwide that Easter first and foremost is a celebration of sacrifice, both Christ’s and ours, during the observation of Holy Week.
“Salvation or redemption need not be perceived as rising above dire straits or from a state of negativity. Rather it results from the assessment of our strengths, our gratitude for them, and the determination to rise above our limitations. It is honing and maximizing the many potentials for growth we are afforded,” Belmonte added.
On Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino III called on Filipinos to reflect on Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and related it to the challenge of the government’s Daang Matuwid (straight path) campaign against corruption in government.
“Sa atin nga pong pagtahak sa tuwid na daan, humaharap tayo sa mga pagsubok. Ang panawagan po sa atin: Bilang Kanyang mga tagasunod, nawa’y maging handa rin tayong tumanggap ng sarili nating mga sakripisyo. Tiyak naman pong lahat ng ating pinaghirapan ay may positibong ambag para sa ikabubuti ng mas nakakarami,” he said in his Lenten message.
“Lent is also an occasion to think more profoundly about the obligations we have to ourselves, and the obligations we have to one another as human beings,” Senate President Franklin Drilon said in his Lenten message last Monday. — Patricia Denise Chiu/JDS, GMA News
